Parking ticket anger in Hamilton

South Lanarkshire Council defend decision

A furious man this week hit out after being slapped with a parking ticket while attending for jury service in Hamilton.

Thomas Miller was running late for his
public duty at Hamilton Sheriff Court when he parked in the nearby free
public car park in Caird Street about 10am last Monday.

The 62-year-old abandoned his car beside a bay in the car park so that he could register in time at the court.

He returned within minutes to remove the car and found a parking attendant had issued him with a £30 ticket.

However,
South Lanarkshire Council insist that parking outwith bays makes it difficult for other drivers and there are plenty of signs warning people
not to do it.

Thomas, of Netherburn, was not selected for jury duty and the case is concluded.

He
hit out after the Advertiser reported last week that parking attendants
had issued 86,325 fines in South Lanarkshire between 2008 and 2012, raking in a whopping £3.2m.

He
fumed: “I was running late and could not get into the car park at Beckford Street as it said it was only open to the public after 10am.

“I decided to use the other car park but all the spaces were full.

“I parked the car outwith lines beside a bay as there were no spaces in the car park.

“I wasn’t blocking or obstructing anyone.

“I
ran up to the court to register for jury duty and got permission from the Clerk of the Court to leave for five or ten minutes to move the car into a space.

“When I got back, I knew I had to find a space but I had already been issued with a parking ticket.

“I told the parking attendant that I was on jury duty, but he said there was nothing he could do about the ticket.

“I am normally an easy-going guy, but this left me fizzing.

“I am 62 years old and have never been in any kind of bother.

“Why
on earth do they need a parking attendant to patrol a free car park? Are they looking for illegal parking so that they can raise money?”

The
Advertiser can reveal that 97 tickets were dished out by parking attendants to motorists in Hamilton’s Caird Street car park during 2012.

Mr Miller appealed the decision last Monday afternoon and received a letter two days later to say that it had been rejected.

Gordon
Mackay, head of South Lanarkshire Council’s Roads and Transportation Services, said: “Vehicles parking outwith the bay markings make it difficult for other drivers to get in and out of parking spaces.

“There are 11 signs located around the Caird Street car park telling drivers that parking outwith the bays is not allowed.”